Learning The Guitar Basics

By chris

So you’ve decided to follow in the footsteps of Steve Vai, B.B. King, Eric Clapton and the
rest of the guitar gods. Or maybe you simply want to take on a new hobby that you can pursue
in your free time. Perhaps you want to express yourself artistically through music. Whatever
the reasons you have for wanting to learn guitar, you have to start with the basics. Let’s begin
with a look at the guitar strings.

The basic guitar has six strings. Like most other instruments these strings can be tuned to
various musical notes. Each string has a thickness (known as the gauge) that makes it suitable
for a certain note. A guitar is typically tuned from low to high with the following notes: E, A,
D, G, B, and E (shown below).

Figure 1. Standard Guitar Tuning

Guitars players use a combination of open notes and fretted notes (achieved by pressing one’s
fingers onto a string on a specific part of the fret board) to produce sound. Guitar strings can
be strummed in succession (usually from low notes to high notes) or picked one by one.
There’s an exciting world of guitar playing techniques out there, and many are still being
developed, so feel free to be creative and experiment with different styles.

Musical Notes

It helps to know a bit about musical notes when starting to learn an instrument – and guitar is
no exception. This information can be somewhat boring, but try to let it sink in. It will be
foundational to the rest of your guitar learning journey.

There are 12 musical notes. Starting with the C note, the notes ascend in the following order
(note that the lower case “b” is pronounced “flat”):

C-Db-D-Eb-E-F-Gb-G-Ab-A-Bb-B-C

Applying pressure on a guitar string in between one of the frets (the metal strips that divide
the fret board) produces different notes when the guitar string is played. When you play
higher on the fret board (closer to the wide part of the guitar) the notes become successively
higher. For example, playing the open bass E string (the lowest string) produces an E note. As
you play higher up the fret board, the notes produced follow this order:
 E-F-Gb-G-Ab-A-Bb-B-C-Db-D-Eb-E-F-Gb-G…

Guitar Chords

Playing three or more notes at the same time creates a chord. Each chord is made up of three
unique notes. For example, a C chord is played with the notes C, E, and G. Follow these steps
to play a C chord:

1. Place your left index finger on the B string at the first fret and apply pressure.
2. Apply pressure with your left middle finger on the D string at the second fret.
3. Apply pressure with your left ring finger on the A string at the third fret.

Figure 2. C Chord

4. Using your right hand (I recommend a pick held between your thumb and index
finger), strum the strings from the low note to the high note.

Experiment

Congratulations! You’ve played your first chord. Quick, let’s hear your cleanest rendition of
“Stairway to Heaven.” I’m kidding of course, but you’ll be surprised at how quickly you can
develop the techniques necessary to play challenging songs if you put forth some effort.

Guitar playing is an art form. I recommend experimenting with different notes and chords at
this point. Try playing “Jingle Bells” by playing single fretted notes. Experimentation is the
quickest way to get familiar with your guitar’s fret board. Once you’ve played around a bit,
try moving onto other chords or scales.

How To Read Guitar Tabs

By chris

Playing songs by other artists is one of the most effective (and most fun) ways to quickly
learn guitar. I typically recommend that you try figuring out a song yourself without
consulting a reference. This will push you to learn how to play by ear – a very useful skill. If
you’ve tried and failed to learn how to play a song, however, I recommend you consult a
guitar tab. If this is your first time looking at a tab, it will probably confuse you. This guide
will help demystify some of the common elements of guitar tabs.
Here’s what a standard guitar tab looks like:

G D Dsus Cadd9 Cadd9 Cadd9

E|-333333--------------------------------|

A|-222222---------------3333---3333---33-|

D|-000000----000000-----2222---2222---22-|

G|-000000----222222-----0000---0000---00-|

B|-333333----333333-----3333---3333---33-|

E|-333333----222223-----3333---3333---33-|

This is how Third Eye Blind’s main chord progression to their song “Semi-Charmed Life” is
written in tab form. You can see that each row of dashes (-) represents a guitar string, while
each vertical column denotes musical time. This time is usually relative. It’s rare to find a
guitar tab that actually has the timing worked out correctly.

The numbers in the tab show which fret your finger is supposed to press on a given string. For
example, the first six 3’s along the bass E string indicate that you should play the E string
while applying pressure to the third fret. Whenever a number appears in the same column as
another number, you know that you’re supposed to play both strings at the same time.

You can see that in this case, the names of each chord appear above the top of the tab. This
allows a guitarist who already knows how to play a chord, to learn the song more efficiently.

Special Guitar Tab Symbols

The above explanation should get you started on reading tabs, but you might discover that
other confusing symbols appear in some guitar tabs. Take a look at the beginning of Led
Zeppelin’s main riff to their song “Black Dog” below:

E|---------------------------|

A|-7------7------------------|

D|--5-6-7-----7-----------7--|

G|---------5b---7-9-5h7p5----|

B|---------------------------|

E|---------------------------|

You’re probably thinking, “What in the world are those letters doing there?” Let’s take them
step-by-step.

The “b” next to the “5” means that you should bend the guitar string at this note. When you
bend a guitar string while holding a note, the pitch modulates to a higher note. You’ll
probably have to experiment with how much you need to bend the string before it sounds
correct.
The “h” and “p” symbols represent hammer-ons and pull-offs. This means you should
perform either a hammer-on or a pull-off at this note. This symbol almost always comes
before the note you’re supposed to switch to.

Other Guitar Tab Advice

At first, reading tabs will probably be difficult for you. Give it some time though, and you’ll
barely even notice the numbers. You’ll just see chords and notes.

Again, I recommend that you try to play a song by ear before you look up a tab. This is really
for two reasons: (1) you’ll develop an ear for chords and scales, and (2) it will make it easier
to learn the tab when you’ve already made some progress on learning the song.

Whether you take this advice or not, I highly recommend learning other musician’s songs.
You’ll often discover new ways of playing that you might not have found on your own.

How To Learn Guitar Chords

By chris

Learning guitar chords is fundamental to teaching yourself guitar. This article will introduce
you to 3 common chords that are appropriate for beginners. Once you’ve learned these, you’ll
be able to play along to at least one 90’s alternative rock hit.

The first chord to learn is the C chord. This chord uses a combination of C, E, and G notes to
produce its distinct sound. Follow these steps to construct the chord:

C Chord

 Apply pressure to the B string at the first fret with your index finger. This creates a C
note.
 Apply pressure to the D string at the second fret with your middle finger. This creates
an E note.
 Apply pressure to the A string at the third fret with your middle finger. This creates
another C note.
 Strum the strings with your right hand from the low E string to the high E string.
Next, let’s take a look at the D chord. The D chord is made up of the notes D, F#, and A. The
D chord is slightly harder to play than the C chord, but practice enough and you’ll get it.
Here’s how you create a D chord:

Chord D

 Apply pressure to the G string at the second fret with your index finger. This creates
an A note.
 Apply pressure to the high E string at the second fret with your middle finger. Placing
your finger and applying pressure might be difficult at first. This creates an F# note.
 Apply pressure to the B string at the third fret with your ring finger. This creates a D
note.
 Before strumming, place your pick (or finger) on top of the D string. Strum down
from this point. This allows you to play only the notes that are supposed to be in the D
chord. If you played from the lowest string, you would include an E note.

Lastly, let’s play a G chord. This chord needs G, B, and D notes. Follow these steps to play it:

Chord G

 Apply pressure to the A string at the second fret with your index finger. This creates a
B note.
 Apply pressure to the low E string at the third fret with your middle finger. This
creates a G note.
 Apply pressure ot the high E string at the third fret with your ring finger. This creates
another G note. The D note is provided by the open D string.
 Strum the strings from low to high.

So there you have it – your first guitar chords. Try playing the chords one after another in
different orders. It will probably be quite difficult at first. Fortunately for you, fingers have
memory. They will eventually remember where they’re supposed to be placed automatically.
For your first song, I recommend Third Eye Blind’s 90’s rock hit “Semi-charmed Life.” The
entire song uses a three-chord progression of G, D, and C. If you have access to the song, try
paying along with it. Don’t worry too much about getting the rhythm right as it’s somewhat
complex for a first song. Just try switching to the right chords in time with the music.

You’ll find that your fingers will get more agile every time your practice. And don’t worry
about your aching fingertips. The more you play; the faster you’ll develop calluses.

Once you’ve gotten the hang of playing G, D, and C chords and switching between them, try
your hand at some of the other standard chords such as E, A, and Bm. Congratulations, you
are well on your way to teaching yourself guitar.